


Demonology

by Amywins



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29608722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amywins/pseuds/Amywins
Summary: They crossed paths again soon, as they seemed to do lately.There was some new magical emergency, and since Macy and Harry, and Maggie and Jordan gravitated towards each other, it was only natural that they had to pair the spares, as it were.“You keep coming up with reasons why I should help you,” Abby said, casually. “And I must say, they keep getting less and less convincing.”
Relationships: Abigael Jameson-Caine/Mel Vera
Comments: 18
Kudos: 65





	Demonology

Whatever it was that Mel expected to find when she walked into Abby’s apartment, the last thing she had imagined was seeing the demon witch, in a shocking state of undress, making out with another woman on the couch while straddling a half-naked man.

“Gah!” she squeaked, half covering her eyes in surprise. “Good to see you’re back on your feet, so to speak.”

Abigael broke the kiss but held the woman in place, sweetly curling her hand around her neck. She tilted her head to look at Mel, who, at that point, had managed to regain her composure.

“I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Please, the protection charms around your apartment are like Swiss cheese. They totally let me through.”

“I meant I thought you were dead,” Abby deadpanned. It somehow lost the desired effect, though, since the semi-naked, over-muscled guy took the opportunity to sit up and start kissing the side of Abby’s neck.

“Um. It turns out destiny had a loophole.”

“Yes, it seems it usually does.”

Mel already found herself unsure as to where to take the conversation next. So, instead of replying, she looked around the place.

The apartment, usually flawless, now looked like a mess. And not even in a “we’re in the middle of an orgy” kind of way. The floor was covered in broken glass, the lighting fixtures seemed to have blown up, and the full-length mirror on the corner was completely cracked. She even spotted some scorch marks on the wall that suspiciously looked like a fireball had hit them.

“Well, er... I just wanted to make sure you were, you know, in one piece,” she finally said.

“Three days later?” Abby laughed. She hand-waved the man to stop, and lead him towards the other girl. “Good thing your little loophole did the job, or you would’ve found me in a pile on the floor. But I do appreciate the thought,” she drawled, her brown eyes brimming with fake sincerity.

“Of course.”

“Now, unless you want to join in, I suggest you leave. I’m quite busy at the moment.”

It was obvious she was being dismissed. Abby seemed to instantly forget about her presence, focusing instead on her two companions, who were kissing rather sloppily. As tempted as Mel was to leave, there was still, of course, the other reason for her visit.

She cleared her throat.

“I actually wanted to talk to you. In private.”

Abigael, who was otherwise occupied biting her lip and intently looking at the show in front of (and around) her, rolled her eyes at Mel’s words. However, finally she extricated herself from her position, giving Mel an unobstructed view of her very risqué lingerie.

“Fine,” she sighed. Then she gestured at the other two: “You. Go away.”

They rushed to pick up their clothes from the floor and quietly slipped away. Meanwhile, Abigael put on a black silk robe and poured herself some whiskey. She had a long drink, as if to give her strength, and came back to the sofa, where she sat and crossed her legs, flashing soft, pale skin.

“Well, now you have my undivided attention.”

“Um,” Mel hesitated, unsure of where to start. “Abby, are you sure you’re okay? You seem... off,” she finished weakly.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, for one, your apartment needs... some serious redecorating. And then there’s that thing with Jordan and your sister...”

“Remind me to threaten Jordy with dismemberment if he opens his mouth about my personal business again,” Abby interjected.

Mel shyly sat down next to Abigael.

“You didn’t tell me you had a sister,” she accused.

“Yes, well. You never asked, did you?” Abby rolled her eyes at Mel’s look. “Oh stop it. It’s nothing like you and your dear witchy sisters. She hates me, just like my mum, and wishes to never hear from me again. She made that perfectly clear.” Before Mel had the opportunity to speak up, Abby continued. “Now, what do you really want? Please, I know how you Charmed Ones work, so save the concerned act. What do you need from me?”

Mel couldn’t help it; she blushed.

“There’s a spell. We want— I mean, we need your book. Your mom’s book,” she corrected herself.

Abigael had another drink of whiskey and glared at her in silence for a moment. Then she stood up, walked up to a desk and opened the drawer. She muttered a spell and extracted the old, leather-covered journal. Without a care, Abby tossed it her way and Mel scrambled to catch it in mid-air.

“You can have it. I’m done with it.”

* * *

Abigael enjoyed looking at herself, a lot. She couldn’t see any reason to be ashamed of that fact; she was beautiful, perfect even, something to be admired. So what if she was vain? She was a demon, for hell’s sake, vanity came with the job description.

And yet, now she found herself avoiding the mirror.

Her demon part, which had been separated from her since oh so long ago, was now out in the open, waiting for her on every reflective surface imaginable, from an innocent glass of water to the screen of her own mobile phone. More often than not, it spooked her. And Abigael did not spook easily.

The truth of the matter was that, even though she enjoyed her newfound power (and enjoy it she did), she couldn’t get over how, well, _ugly_ she looked. She had examined her demon form, her true form, over and over, trying to find herself in there, somewhere. Still, she saw a stranger each time, a creature she did not recognize.

She couldn’t help but wonder, maybe her mum had been right all along.

That was usually the point when she started drinking.

Which is exactly what she was doing when her phone lit up with a text from Jordy: “We need to talk.” Abby rolled her eyes and ignored it, pouring herself some more whiskey. “NOW,” her phone insisted. And, immediately after, the bell rang.

Jordan was there, of course.

“You lot are like a pest, you know that?” she said flatly.

He walked past her into her apartment.

“You have to tell me what’s going on with you.” He sounded dead serious, which made her want to giggle.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific than that, Jordy.”

“Mags called me. She was on a mission, tracking some demons.”

Abigael lifted an eyebrow.

“How romantic.”

“We followed them, only it wasn’t demons that we found. Not a _whole_ one, anyway.” Jordan was looking at her accusingly, and closed his hand in a fist as he spoke. “It was a bloodbath. Like some wild animal had just... torn them apart.”

“So you didn’t have to fight them. Sounds like a good day to me.”

“Does it?” His earlier harshness had disappeared, and now his voice, and his eyes, were impossibly soft. “Abby, I know it was you. And I just— Look, is everything okay?”

She scoffed.

“They were in my way, and yes, maybe I took the opportunity to enact some revenge. So what? Isn’t that what the Charmed Ones do? Take out demons?”

“Not like that,” he frowned.

“Everyone’s a critic.”

Jordan sat down next to her and went quiet for a bit.

“Is this about the letter?” he finally asked.

The glass clanked against the marble table as she set it there. Abby then turned around.

“No. But it is interesting that you seem to care so much about four stupid demons that you just had to come here in person.” She lowered her voice and let her hand fall on his knee. “Tell me, Jordy,” as she spoke, she dragged her hand along the inside of his thigh, “why are you really here?”

He grabbed her hand and firmly put it away.

“Stop that,” he said, coolly. “You don’t even want to seduce me, you’re just trying to, what? Annoy me?”

Abigael ripped her hand away from his and took another big gulp of whiskey. She finished her glass and went to get the bottle.

“Fancy a drink?” she offered.

Jordan shook his head.

“Nah, I think I’d better go.” He seemed mad, and for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what he had to be so angry about.

“Yes, don’t forget to tell your diminutive girlfriend all about Big Bad Abby!”

Jordan stood up.

“I didn’t tell her anything. About you, or those demons.” There was something so sincere in his voice that made Abby believe him. “But they’ll figure it out for themselves soon enough. So I suggest you get over whatever this is, and clean up your act.”

He left, and he didn’t even have the decency of slamming the door on his way out.

* * *

Mel texted Abby, one night.

“Thanks for the book,” she said. “It’s actually been very useful.”

She didn’t expect a response, but she got one almost immediately.

“I’m sure I’ll think of a way you can pay me back.”

Mel rolled her eyes and put her cell phone away. She didn’t write anything in return.

* * *

They crossed paths again soon, as they seemed to do lately.

There was some new magical emergency, and since Macy and Harry, and Maggie and Jordan gravitated towards each other, it was only natural that they had to pair the spares, as it were.

“You keep coming up with reasons why I should help you,” Abby said, casually. “And I must say, they keep getting less and less convincing.”

Mel rolled her eyes but then she smirked, just a little bit.

“How about I asked you to?”

Abby shook her head. They were brewing a new potion, of Mel’s creation, and she was working the mortar.

“You say that as if we were friends.”

“We are friendly-ish,” Mel shrugged. “And it’s not like you have exactly a lot of those. You could do a lot worse than me, anyway.”

“I guess I could. I doubt your sisters would agree with you, though.”

“Well, can you blame them? You did try to kill Macy,” Mel reminded her in a terse tone. Abby couldn’t help a smug grin in return.

“It was just the one time, really.”

They worked in silence for a bit. It was a sort of nice, actually, having that sort of camaraderie for a change. Abigael watched the other witch; Mel was busy slicing some gross-looking roots on a wooden cutting board.

“Anyway,” she said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I appreciate the situation must be awkward for you.”

“Why on Earth would you think that?”

Mel stopped chopping and looked up at her.

“It can’t be easy for you. Seeing Harry and Macy, together.”

Abigael scoffed. So that was what this was about.

“Oh, please. I couldn’t care less what Harold and his boring girlfriend do with their lives.”

Mel raised her eyebrows.

“Yep. Not bitter at all,” she muttered sarcastically and went back to work.

“I suppose I did... care for him,” Abby admitted. Mel looked at her, surprised, and they exchanged a brief glance. “But Harry, he’s... he’s a bit like you, actually.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mel frowned. She sensed an insult in there, somewhere.

“He expects too much of people. His standards— he makes it impossible for anyone to live up to them. Unless you’re some sort of saintly figure, obviously.”

Mel laughed.

“Macy, she’s... she’s not a saint. None of us are, believe me.”

Abigael looked her up and down. Then she leaned against the counter.

“Anyway, enough about my sad, little love life. What about this Ruby of yours?” she asked, batting her eyelashes. Mel just shook her head.

“I told you she’s a friend. And I’m definitely not talking to you about my love life.”

“I’m hurt,” Abby said, mockingly. “And here I thought we were actually becoming bosom buddies. I’m sure I know just your type, though.” Now it was Mel’s turn to scoff, but Abigael continued, “Let me guess: it’s tall, dark, and really sexy.”

Mel turned around and put her hands on her hips.

“Is this your weird way of asking me if I’m into you?”

“It wasn’t, actually,” Abby smiled smugly. “But nice to know you think I’m sexy.”

Mel opened up her mouth to reply but, before she could say a word, Maggie and Jordan busted through the kitchen door, mumbling incoherently about something Abby couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to. She smiled to herself. As far as she was concerned, she had won this round.

* * *

Then Abigael saved Mel’s life.

It started with a very insistent knock at the door and, at the other side, a very frazzled, very unannounced Mel Vera.

“I’m sorry, but yours was the closest place I could think of!” she exclaimed as a greeting.

“Are you being followed?” Abigael frowned as she stepped aside to let the witch in.

Mel bolted inside and closed the door behind her, just in time to avoid an energy blast being thrown her way.

“I’m being attacked!”

“And you brought them here?” Abby asked, annoyed. “How thoughtful of you!”

They had just barricaded behind the kitchen counter when the door was blasted to pieces by two burly demons.

“Sorry about that,” Mel said, contritely.

“I’d just had the hall redone,” the demon witch lamented.

They disposed of the first demon rather easily; Mel blinded him, and Abby finished him off with a well-aimed fireball. That was when the other demon decided to charge against the smaller witch, throwing her in the air — and then crashing through a window.

“Mel!”

She felt the glass crack and shatter into a million pieces under her weight, and then, suddenly, the cold air outside was hitting her face. Abigael lunged at the hole in the window, trying to catch the witch as she was holding on to the windowsill for dear life, but it was too late. Their fingers brushed for just an instant, and then Mel lost her grip and, just like that, she was falling.

And then, she stopped.

When she opened her eyes, all Mel saw was the sky surrounding her: vast and blue. She quickly got her bearings back; she was suspended mid-fall, on the outside of the penthouse, overlooking Seattle. Six feet up, she could see Abby’s upper body leaning out of what remained of the window, her extended hand still reaching out to her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mel started to move. Slowly, she floated upwards, Abigael’s telekinesis pulling her to safety. Mel held on to the stretched arm and finally, _finally_ , she hit the ground.

That was when the demon threw the TV.

“ _Now_ you’ve ticked me off,” Abby groaned, and with a sweep of her hand she TK’d a big shard of glass the demon’s way, instantly beheading him.

The two women fell to the ground, trying to catch their breath. Mel closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the floor under her and waiting for her legs to stop shaking. Then she opened her eyes and exchanged a look with Abigael.

“I’m sorry about your hall.”

For once, Abby didn’t have a witty retort to offer.

* * *

It was exactly midnight when Abigael phased through her bedroom door.

“I must confess your text intrigued me. ‘Meet me in my room tonight. Do NOT let yourself be seen,’” she recited, holding up her phone. Mel stood up from her desk and faced her. “Now why exactly would you have me sneak into your bedroom in the dead of night? I wonder.” Abby smirked, leaning into her personal space.

Mel took a step back.

“I wanted to talk to you. And Macy and Maggie can’t know about this or they will, I don’t know, freak out.”

“Go on.”

Mel sighed; she closed her eyes.

“I hadn’t put two and two together. But then, the other day, when you saved my life—”

“When I saved your life again,” Abigael interjected.

“—I realized... All this time, we’ve been finding these strange,” she looked for the right word, “ _scenes_ of demons, completely massacred. Sometimes all that remained of them was a body part, burnt and black. We figured some new in-war had broken in the demon world, and then we didn’t think about it at all.” Mel breathed a sad little laugh. “But it was all you, wasn’t it?”

While Mel spoke, Abigael’s expression subtly changed. Her smile stayed on, but while earlier it had been easy, even flirty, now it had become sharp like a knife. She lifted her chin up, refusing to show any sign of weakness or embarrassment.

“Now riddle me this, Charmed One. You three can kill all the demons you like and it’s all fine and dandy, but when I do it it suddenly becomes a problem?” Mel shook her head. She opened her mouth to argue something back, but Abby continued. “And you have the gall to ask me for what? An explanation? Well, here it is: I’m a demon, darling.”

“You keep saying that. You’re also a witch—”

“I am what I am. And I wanted revenge. So what? Might I remind you, some of the demons I killed were the very ones that kept you in a dungeon and would’ve happily watched us bleed out after they slit our throats.”

“Dammit, Abby!” Mel exploded, angrily. “I don’t care about those demons!”

That gave Abigael pause. She hadn’t missed the implication in the other woman’s words.

“Which brings me back to,” Abigael continued, her voice low and dangerous, “why am I in your bedroom in the middle of the night?”

They clashed first against each other, then against the wall. Mel held on to her, clutching Abby’s clothing with one hand and grabbing her by the back of her neck with the other. Abby moaned through their kisses, then broke the embrace to unzip her own dress.

“Well, I guess that answers that.”

* * *

It was still dark when Mel woke up.

She had expected the other side of her bed to be empty, but it took her by surprise to find a slim figure standing in the corner of her room, silently looking through her bookshelves.

“See anything interesting?” she asked. Abby hummed.

“I expected more Sarah Waters, to be honest.”

Mel rolled her eyes and sat up, making sure her naked chest was still covered by her bed sheets.

“Ha-ha.” She was about to bite something sarcastic back at the other woman, but then she saw the journal in Abigael’s hands. Instead, she gently asked: “Do you want it back?”

“Not at all. I was just... reminiscing.”

“Do you want to talk about it? Your mom... or your sister?”

Abby turned around to look at her for the first time, and raised an eyebrow.

“Look at you, Screaming Sally. Thinking that just because we had sex I was going to go soft on you?”

Mel rolled her eyes.

“Gotta say, your nicknames are starting to make less and less sense.”

“Really? I thought, after what transpired tonight, that it would’ve been pretty self-explanatory.” Mel felt her cheeks heat up. “Anyway, not much to tell. Dear sister wrote a very polite letter telling me, in my mother’s name, to piss off.”

“Ouch,” Mel muttered. “That must’ve sucked.”

Abby left the old journal back on the shelf and walked closer to the other witch. She sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I can’t say that I was expecting a warm reunion, after all these years. What I did to her, what she did to me... What she took from me, ” she mused. “But it did hurt, being rejected.”

“What she took from you,” Mel repeated, frowning.

Abigael leaned closer and, just for a moment, Mel thought that she was going to kiss her.

“I should go. No rest for the wicked, I’m afraid,” she smirked, and stood back up. “See you around, Mel Vera.”

Abby winked, and then she disappeared into a puff of black smoke. With a sigh, Mel let herself herself fall back into her pillows.

* * *

They kept it going, whatever it was that they had going on.

They met mostly in Abby’s apartment, once or twice back in Mel’s room, and had sex. Sometimes it was quick — Mel hurriedly getting dressed to deal with whatever craziness was going on in her life, or Abby leaving while the other woman was still asleep. But, most of the time, they spent the night.

Mel was starting to get used to the sound of Abigael’s slow breathing; the feel of her arm around her waist; her feet, somehow always cold, brushing against her calves.

When she was alone, she reread Abby’s mum’s book. Her fingers traced the words written on the first page: “Don’t forget, love is the real magic... Kisses, Francesca.”

* * *

Harry was busy doing some research when Mel arrived home.

It was in moments like this that he missed Macy the most — he didn’t mind doing this kind of work on his own, truly, but she was so good at this, loved this part of the process so much, that it seemed like without her the experience was lacking somewhat.

Then again, if you asked him, everything in the world was like that.

Anyway, Mel walked into the living room just as he was cracking open an particularly old, particularly dusty encyclopaedia.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey yourself.”

The truth was, they hadn’t seen much of each other these last few weeks. Between her job, her responsibilities as a Charmed One, and her life as an actual 27-year-old-woman, Mel had been spreading herself too thin.

Still, she did seem particularly distracted lately.

“What are you up to?”

“Ah, I’m trying to find some information about a specific potion. Witch’s Bane, I believe it’s called,” he answered, not tearing his eyes from the page.

Mel left her bag on the table.

“Where is Macy?” she asked, looking around. "Need any help?"

“Working, and I'd love some,” Harry said, grateful. He pushed some of the books away and made space for the witch, who sat down on the opposite side of the table. “I haven’t looked through any of those yet.”

Now, contrary to public belief, Harry wasn’t _that_ tightly wound, really. He did start to get a little bit irritated, however, when he watched the witch pick one of the books and open it at random, not moving on from that same page in at least ten minutes.

“Harry, can I ask you something?” Mel finally said.

He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Maybe he really needed the break.

“Of course, what’s on your mind?”

“Do you think...” she started. “Do we expect too much of people?”

Harry frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s true, right? Maybe I do set my standards impossibly high, like... like I want people to fail,” she sighed, sounding defeated.

“Mel, where’s this coming from?”

“It’s just, being a Charmed One, being a witch,” she turned to look at him, “it’s the most important thing in my life. I have to do a good job.”

Harry nodded.

“You set impossible standards, most of all for yourself.”

“I have to be good. I have to be smart,” Mel said, her voice low and thick, her eyes suddenly bright with tears. “Staying away from relationships you know are a bad idea, that’s the smart thing to do, right?”

The whitelighter sighed.

“I thought that’s what I was doing, staying away from Macy. Being smart, doing the right thing.” He chuckled. “Obviously, that didn’t go well for me. I think, when it comes to this,” he put his hand over his heart, “right and wrong are very relative terms. You are a good witch, a good sister, and a good person. Allowing yourself some happiness can’t be a bad thing.”

Mel sniffled.

“Thanks, Harry.”

“Of course,” he smiled. “You and Ruby will figure it out, I’m sure.”

* * *

They were all together when the kyon attacked.

Earlier they had decided to divide into two teams, in order to effectively cover some more ground. Jordan, Abby and Maggie went east, while Macy, Mel and Harry headed west. The forest was big, and wild, and, to be honest, kind of scary.

And then, they started to hear that shrieking.

At first it was quiet. It sounded distant, almost like a lament, and they followed it in hopes of finding the witch in distress that had brought them there in the first place. However, as it got progressively louder it became obvious that it wasn’t so much a cry for help, as it was a threat. It soon turned into a howl that made the hair on their arms stand up. After some deliberation they decided to push forward, though. They had been following the sound for too long and now they were completely lost, so reaching the source of the shrieking was their only real choice.

And then, suddenly, the noise stopped.

“What the hell?” whispered Jordan, looking around completely unnerved. “I don’t like this.”

“Don’t worry, Jordy. We’ll make sure to protect your frail human body.”

“Shh!” Maggie threw them a warning glance. “Someone’s coming!”

They came together in a defensive position, and Abby readied a fireball. Some of the bushes in front of them started to shake, and then— 

“Guys!” Harry’s head popped out from the thick vegetation. “What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised.

The three of them flinched and then heaved a sigh of relief. Abby instantly disintegrated her fireball.

“For crying out loud, Harold!” she said, exasperated. “Next time you’d better announce your presence. I almost blasted your face off.”

“Wait,” Macy interrupted, emerging from the bushes followed by Mel, “how come you’re all here? We went completely opposite ways.”

“We were following the creepy howl,” Maggie explained.

Macy, Mel and Harry exchanged a look.

“So were we.”

A pregnant pause followed.

“So you’re saying,” Jordan said, sounding miserable, “that we all followed the obvious bait, and it led us—”

“—here,” Abby finished for him. She had walked a bit to the side, away from the rest of them. “I think we found your witch. Whatever is left of her, anyway.”

They all headed to the tree Abigael was standing next to, looking down to a decomposed and half-eaten body, partially buried at the bottom of a pit.

“Dammit,” Macy hissed. “We were too late.”

“We should get out of here, right now,” Harry urged. He started to step back but, the moment he moved, a big, screeching creature suddenly landed on top of him, toppling him over and making him fall down the muddy slope.

“Harry!”

They all dispersed. Macy tried to tackle the creature with her telekinesis, but it was no longer there. It had charged after Maggie and Jordan, and caught the latter by the leg with its jaw.

“Jordan, hold on!” Maggie screamed, pulling him by the arm, trying and failing to get him away from the monster.

“This really does bring back memories,” Abigael murmured into Mel’s ear, and then threw a fireball to the creature’s maw, who yelped in pain and released Jordan. Quickly, it jumped out of the way and disappeared up the tree tops.

“Nobody move!” Mel shouted. “It’s a kyon! It can only see movement!”

They instantly stood still. Some branches nearby cracked and fell to the ground. All was quiet for a moment, except for Jordan’s groans of pain.

“What are we going to do?” Maggie cried. “Jordan’s bleeding out, and Harry’s out of reach!”

“Give me a moment!” Mel said. “I just need to think. I need... I need a moment.”

“I have a healing potion—” Maggie started.

“Move an inch, Pretty Pony,” Abby threatened, “and I will kill you myself.”

“You really are a heartless bi—”

“Shut up!” Mel screamed, her eyes closed and eyebrows knit together in concentration. “Just shut up! I need some quiet, I just need a minute—”

Jordan screamed again. He was quickly turning pale, and a pool of blood was forming under to him.

“I-I’m going to...”

“Mags,” Macy pleaded, “hold on a second. We can do this.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Please, don’t do it,” Mel begged her younger sister. “Please, Maggie. Please, don’t move...”

They exchanged one last glance, and then Maggie reached inside her bag and, taking out a small vial, crawled towards Jordan’s lying body.

After that, it all happened in a flash. A greyish blur dropped down from the trees and at the same time, as if on a split-second decision, Abby jumped in front of Maggie. The kyon shrieked again and then, in the same heartbeat, it was running Abigael through with its claw.

The demon witch didn’t give an inch, though. Ignoring the searing pain on her shoulder, she grabbed the monster by its arm, holding it in place, and grinned dangerously.

“Got you, bitch.”

Then she extended her unharmed arm, right in front of the kyon’s opened jaws, and fired point blank a burst of white-hot flame.

* * *

Mel payed her a visit almost right away.

“Hey,” Abby greeted after opening the door. “I was thinking maybe Vietnamese—”

The other woman didn’t pay her any attention; instead, she wordlessly walked up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her, swallowing the rest of her sentence.

Abigael instantly reacted, deepening the kiss and pushing Mel’s back into the door. Eventually, they broke apart.

“Okay,” Abby said, a bit breathlessly. “I see I’m not the only one feeling a bit peckish.”

“Thank you,” Mel blurted. “For saving Maggie.”

Abby’s smile froze for a second, and then, licking her lips, she stepped back.

“I appreciate your candor,” she said offhandedly, while turning in the direction of her bar, “but your sister gave me the perfect opening. I simply took the chance to save my own life.”

Mel scoffed in disbelief.

“You simply can’t admit to doing something selfless, can you?”

Abby glared at her and started pouring herself a glass of whiskey. She had a sip.

“I wasn’t.”.

“Right, you expect me to believe that getting skewered was part of your master plan,” Mel said, raising her eyebrows.

“Alright!” Abigael groaned, throwing her head back. “I admit, I was trying to save her. But it wasn’t for her. I wasn’t doing the right thing. I did it for you. Hence, not selfless,” she finished, triumphantly.

Mel shook her head.

“So what? You care about her being alive because _I_ care about her being alive?”

“Pretty much. Demons are selfish by nature. Pride, ambition, resentment, jealousy. You may turn up your nose at them, but these are the feelings that give demons their power.”

“Everybody feels those feelings, Abby! I don’t know what your mom told you, what she made you think you are, but feeling that way is just human!” Mel was trying to get her to see reason, but that only managed to piss her off even more.

“But I’m not just human!” Abigael snapped. Her voice was full of rage and, behind that, even more pain. “I will not deny that part of me, not anymore! She stripped me of most of my powers, of my heritage! She maimed me!”

“What are you talking about?”

Abigael abruptly abandoned her glass on the counter and walked up to Mel.

“Alright, Charmed One. No more pretenses; no more excuses,” she growled, her voice low and raspy. “Time to face reality.”

Suddenly, what stood in front of her wasn’t Abby anymore. She turned into a hellish creature — her eyes foggy, her face twisted, cheekbones protruding into charred horns.

Scared and surprised, Mel recoiled at the sight. She averted her eyes, keeping her gaze down.

“That’s what I thought,” the creature said.

When she gathered the courage to finally look up, Mel found it had already vanished.

* * *

“Hey, Mel.” Maggie said, as she popped her head around the door. “Can we talk?”

Her older sister, who apparently was content just sitting in silence looking at her bedroom wall, jerked at the intrusion.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “come on in. What’s up?”

Maggie entered the bedroom and quietly sat down at the end of the bed.

“I think that’s supposed to be my line.” At Mel’s confused stare, she added, “Really, Mel, what’s going on with you?”

“What... what do you mean?”

Maggie sighed. The hard way it was.

“Macy and I were just talking about you, and Harry overheard us. Mel, you have him convinced that you’re like this because of Ruby.” Mel closed her eyes. She knew where this was going. “But I know better. I am an empath, you guys keep forgetting about that fact.”

“Maggie—”

“It’s about Abigael, isn’t it?”

Mel leaned forward and buried her face between her hands.

“I really don’t know what to say,” she groaned. “I don’t know... how it got to this point.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” Maggie teased. She couldn’t see most of Mel’s face, but she could tell her sister was blushing hard. “Look, I can’t say I get it. I mean, she’s hot, but that doesn’t make up for her annoying personality.”

“You aren’t gonna let me live this down, are you?” Mel complained, emerging from behind her hands.

“Still,” Maggie continued, “she saved my life. And Jordan, for whatever reason, seems to like her.” She smiled softly, and shrugged. “And you seem to like her.”

“Yeah...” Mel admitted, scrunching up her nose. “I kind of do.”

“So, if you’re worried about me and Macy, don’t be. I’m happy if you’re happy and Mace... well, she’s going to freak out, no doubt about it, but she’ll get over it in the end!”

Mel couldn’t help but chuckle. Leave it to her always enthusiastic, always optimistic baby sister to make everything simple and easy.

“Thank you, Maggie.”

“Please, that’s what sisters are for. Now get your ass out of this depressing bedroom and come help me make dinner!”

* * *

When she saw her, Abigael groaned.

“Not only is it humiliating enough that I have to open my own door, I also have to find you at the other side.”

Mel rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please. Grow up,” she snapped, and walked past her into the apartment without asking for permission. Abby followed her, crossing her arms like a little kid throwing a tantrum. “I want to apologize,” Mel said, turning around.

“Oh?”

“I’m sorry about my reaction the other day. It really did... catch me by surprise,” she conceded. “But, jeez, Abby, you gotta give a girl some time to adjust!”

“You looked pretty horrified to me,” Abigael accused. Her tone was harsh but her brown eyes looked soft, and her guarded posture screamed vulnerability.

“I want to see it. You—” she corrected. “I want to look at you.”

Abby watched her for a moment, saying nothing, and then she uncrossed her arms.

Mel flinched at the transformation, but she didn’t look away, didn’t even blink. She made herself breathe in and out, slowly. She took her time.

Finally, Mel walked closer to the demon and raised her hand. She hesitated for a moment but then, as delicately as possible, she touched her cheek.

“So this was it, huh?” she said, trying to sound casual. “It’s not that bad. Really, Abby, I’ve seen my share of demons, and you definitely are one of the best-looking ones.”

Abigael chuckled at that, and turned back into a human.

“I highly doubt that,” she said, and Mel pulled her hand back when she realized she was still holding her cheek. “But it’s sweet of you to lie. I much prefer my human face, anyway. It would be a shame to hide all this beauty away, don’t you think?”

Abby smiled smugly, which made Mel want to instantly wipe that grin from her face.

“It really is a pretty face,” she admitted. “Shame most of the time it’s firmly inserted up your ass.”

Abigael squinted.

“Now, is that really the way for a Charmed One to be talking?” she teased.

“I... know you’re a demon,” Mel said after a moment, completely changing gears and in a sudden serious tone. “And I accept that, even if you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t want to make you feel like less than what you are. But I’m afraid that that’s what you’ve been doing, all your life. Your mom... she didn’t just strip away your demon powers, she also took from you the _joy_ of being a witch. And I know I can be judgy, I know— but I’m very good at being a witch. So, if you want, I could help you with that. I think... I think we could be good for each other.”

Mel finished her speech and gasped for air, her chest moving up and down as if she had just finished running a marathon. She could feel her heart beating painfully against her ribs. Abigael was looking at her with a strange expression on her face.

Then, she held her face with both hands and kissed her, and again, and again.

“You really are annoyingly perfect, you know that?”

“I’ve been told so before.”

“I’m not... I’m not like you,” Abby confessed.

“I know.”

“Your sisters are going to hate it.”

“Probably.”

At that, Abigael gifted Mel with her best wicked smile.

“I think you just sold me on this.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted to explore two things that I find interesting about these two.  
> The first is the fact that Abigael keeps helping the Charmed Ones again and again and pretending like she's doing it for some evil, self-serving, secret plot. Like, girl, you're just lonely and bored.  
> The second one is Mel's ambivalence towards Abigael. She is extremely judgmental but also very idealistic, which means that, while she immediately decided that Abby was an evil demon that could not be trusted, she is also the only character (other than probably Harry) that has been able to see the good in her.  
> In the end, I don't think I was able to do much with either of them, but I rushed this (and it probably shows) in order to publish the story before tonight's episode airs and canon gets in the way.  
> Also, apparently I can only write really on-the-nose titles.


End file.
